U.K.’s Second £100 Silver Face-Value Coin Features Buckingham Palace

The Royal Mint has announced the launch of its second “£100 for £100” face value silver coin, which features an image of Buckingham Palace, official residence of the British monarch.

Purchased in 1761 just a year after his accession, the expansive building then known as Buckingham House was named after its owner, the Duke of Buckingham. The residence, described as a large townhouse, was built in 1703 and is located just yards from St. James Palace, the official home of the kings of England at the time. The house was originally meant to be used as a private home for the King’s new bride, Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who would become Queen Charlotte. The structure was then known as “Queen’s House,” and was occasionally used for entertainment by Queen Charlotte and her court.

King George IV, son of George III, had ambitious plans to transform the building into a truly magnificent palace. He hired famed architect John Nash (1752 – 1835), known as the designer of the famed Royal Pavilion in Brighton. Nash added three wings to the existing structure, but the ever-increasing costs of the project caused the remaining plans to be shelved, and King George never lived in the palace during his ten-year reign.

It was not until 1837, during the reign of Queen Victoria, that Buckingham Palace became the official residence of the British royal family. The palace underwent significant renovation and expansion just before and during Victoria’s early years as queen, and it was then that the East Front was added, along with the balcony on which the royal family often makes appearances to this day. During the reign of King Edward VII, many rooms of the palace were either restored or renovated to suit the styles and tastes of the king and his Queen Consort, Alexandra.

Today, the palace contains over 830,000 square feet of floor space. The palace’s ballroom, added by Queen Victoria, is the largest room in the building and today serves as the dining room for official state occasions and investiture ceremonies. With 40 acres adjacent, including a helicopter pad, a lake, and a tennis court, the garden of Buckingham Palace is the largest private garden in London.

Buckingham Palace is the official home of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, while serving as the London residence of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and Edward’s wife, Sophie, the Countess of Wessex. More importantly, the palace is a working environment housing the offices of these working members of the royal family with a staff of 800 people.

Buckingham Palace is a focal point for national celebrations like the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II and for royal occasions such as the Royal wedding of Prince William in 2011. On the queen’s birthday, crowds gather in front of the gates to cheer in support of the Queen and members of the royal family. Recently, it has been announced that the Palace is in need of extensive renovation, which may exceed costs of 150 million pounds and may compel the Queen and her family to vacate the building until its completion.

The coin, designed by Royal Mint artists Laura Clancy and Glyn Davies, includes a depiction of Buckingham Palace from a tourist’s eye view, across The Mall and past the ornate Victoria Memorial centered in front of the Palace. The obverse bears the fifth definitive portrait of Queen Elizabeth II as designed by Royal Mint engraver Jody Clark, which has been in use since March of this year.

Denomination

Metal

Weight

Diameter

Quality

Mintage

100 Pounds

.999 silver

62.8 grams

40 mm.

BU

50,000 pieces

This is the second silver coin with a denomination of £100 available for its face value. The first, issued last December, featured an image of the Palace of Westminster and sold out in a matter of weeks. The Royal Mint also offers a similar silver coin program of “£20 for £20.” For more information on this and other coins offered by the Royal Mint, please visit their Web site. Information is offered in English, with international orders dispatched where applicable.

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Comments

The reason why the £100 Fine Silver coin for £100 is a comparative bargain and why all of the 50,000 Big Ben fine silver coins sold out in just 11 days is because of the coin’s high face value of £100. This means despite the coin’s intrinsic melt value containing 2 troy oz. of fine silver, the coin is worth £100 as legal tender. Consider if silver should ever drop to $1 per troy oz., then the £100 coin would still be worth £100 as money (£100 is currently worth $156). For comparison, the American Silver Eagle contains one troy oz. of fine silver, but its face value is only a nominal $1. If, however, the U.S. Mint made a two troy oz. American Silver Eagle having a face value of $50, this would mean the silver coin could be spent as $50 legal tender. However when the price of silver exceeds $25 per troy oz., then the $50 silver coin would not be spent as money because it would be worth more for its silver content. Governments create money using materials with intrinsic value less worth less than the face value of the money. This is a consequence of seigniorage. If, however, the intrinsic melt value of coins exceed their face value, then the coins are not spent as money but are hoarded instead. This is a consequence of Gresham’s Law.

Yes, in short, if for some reason you’re no longer happy to hold onto this coin, it always has a face value of £100 or $155 and if purchased from the Royal Mint, that’s what you pay for this specific coin so you’ll get your money back!

The difference between this and say a typical piedfort coin, if there is such a coin is the piedfort will usually retain the face value of the coin originally issued whereas this is much higher and remember, its all legal tender. Another difference is that possibly the numismatic or collector value for the piedfort may be stronger as the mintage would normally be far less than 50,000, often in the hundreds. A silver Royal Mint piedfort is literally double the cost of an ordinary crown coin – in this regard, its all up to the collector and their likes & dislikes with this coin.

I believe there will be something of a series with London landmarks so I myself am curious as to what this develops into – watch this space…

Michael, thank you for your response. I hope that the U.S. Mint would make a $50 face value two troy oz. fine silver coin that would sell to collectors for $50. This would be similar the Royal Mint’s exchange £100 for a £100 two troy oz. fine silver coin.

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